Mon 15 Nov 2004
I didn’t know rabbits peed so much. If the puddle hadn’t been under the rabbit hutch leg I would have thought it was our dog’s mess.
Now I need to modify the design so it catches liquid better, but I’m stumped. None of the plans I studied seemed to have anything better than what I designed.
So rabbits go back to their old house until that one is solved.
November 16th, 2004 at 3:31 am
from your anonymous uncle…how about two hanging slanted pieces of thin plywood…acting like rain gutters. like your hands under the running faucet. one hand under the other…directing the flow of the water. the rabbit turds would roll down as well. it could all go into the litter box at one spot if the slants were angled in such a manner. just the thought.
November 16th, 2004 at 9:58 am
Thanks for the suggestion, Anonymous Uncle. I think that’s what I need to do, but I might try using plastic instead of wood. That way it won’t smell as bad, as this is an indoor hutch. Ah – but plastic wrapped wood would be even better!
Part of the problem is that I designed the top cage section to be the same dimensions as the frame below it. That makes “funneling” difficult because the edges of the lower frame are not wider than the upper frame.
November 17th, 2004 at 12:43 pm
I sat in bed thinking of a solution last night until midnight. Hopefully my new idea will work, but it’s going to take me a few days.
It needs a polyurethane coating on the bottom, then I’ll build another wood frame that attaches to the structure to act as a funnel. Only this one should work, unlike the last funnel idea.
December 8th, 2004 at 12:20 am
hello! i love rabbits and have a pet rabbit myself. May I suggest a removable plastic tray with rabbit litter in it to soak up the urine? My rabbit lives in my bedroom and she doesn’t smell at all
They are very clean creatures.
December 8th, 2004 at 11:04 am
Thanks for the suggestion, mvo. That is what we ended up doing. Because I couldn’t find a plastic tray that matched the dimensions of the cage I built, I used plexiglass instead. I built a slide-out frame and put the plexiglass on the bottom. Then used lots of caulk to seal the edges. As of today (12/8/04) it’s worked pretty well. We’ve actually kept it in our kitchen – the center of our family’s activities. We clean it every day, and it doesn’t smell a bit.